1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to storage devices for caps and, more particularly, to a storage and display device for baseball-type caps which includes a base plate on which is mounted at least one brim-receiving and retaining cylinder extending generally perpendicular thereto, the cylinder operative to receive and retain a brim of a baseball-type cap therein thus releasably securing the baseball-type cap on the storage device while acting to retain the desired curvature of the brim of the cap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The wearing of baseball-type caps has become increasingly popular over the years as both a way to identify oneself with particular sports clubs or to express an opinion or belief held by the person wearing the cap. Not only do the caps identify particular beliefs or affiliations, they are also comfortable to wear and provide a reasonable amount of head protection from rain, wind, or the like. Unfortunately, it is this popularity of use which often leads to the accidental destruction of the baseball cap.
To many wearers, the most important elements of the baseball cap are the appearance of the cap and that the brim of the cap be curved in a desired manner. When the majority of baseball caps are not being worn, however, they rest on any available surface and are prone to being folded, stepped on or crushed. Although many baseball-type caps are specifically designed to withstand some degree of abuse, at a certain point even the most durable of caps becomes disfigured and thus unwearable. There is therefore a need for an easily used storage system for baseball-type caps which would prevent such destruction.
There are numerous types of baseball-type cap storage devices found in the prior art which attempt to address and solve this problem, including Robak, U.S. Pat. No. 6,196,428, Barbaccia, U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,927, Berardis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,465, and Levin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,652. Each of these examples of the prior art disclose various ways to retain and display baseball-type caps on a display rack or the like, yet each of them include inherent deficiencies, with the unifying deficiency being the relative complexity of each of the devices as compared with desirable simplicity for a storage device. There is therefore a need for a baseball-type cap storage device which will accept and retain a baseball-type cap thereon while maintaining the desired curvature of the brim on the cap and do so in an easy-to-use manner.
Finally, it should be noted that an important desirable feature is ease of placement and removability from a storage rack. Those devices found in the prior art invariably require a series of steps to retain the cap on the storage device which detracts from the usefulness of the storage device, making it less likely that a user of the device will be satisfied with the storage system and more likely that the cap will be damaged by the storage system itself. There is therefore a need for a simple and efficient cap storage device which does not require a series of steps to accept and retain a baseball-type cap thereon.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved storage and display device for baseball-type caps.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage and display device for baseball-type caps which includes a base plate on which is mounted at least one brim-receiving and retaining cylinder, the cylinder operative to receive and retain a brim of a baseball-type cap therein due to the frictional contact between the edges of the brim and the inner wall of the cylinder.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved storage and display device for a baseball-type caps which includes connection devices to connect a series of storage and display devices of the present invention to one another for storage of multiple caps.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved storage and display device for baseball-type caps in which the brim of the cap may merely be inserted into the brim receiving and retaining cylinder and released to securely mount the cap on the storage and display device of the present invention, thus eliminating the multiple steps of installation and retention required by those devices found in the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage and display device for baseball-type caps which will retain the desired curvature of the brim of the cap during the storage term.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage and display device for baseball-type caps which is relatively simple and inexpensive to construct and is safe, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing in use.